Notes Former Padre Kurt Bevacqua will be Marv Albert's studio guest on NBC's baseball pregame show Saturday at 10 a.m. Next week, the guest will be Jimmy Piersall, and the following week it will be Tug McGraw. "We're looking for an Al McGuire of baseball," said an NBC spokesman. . . . NBC's Game of the Week in this part of the country Saturday will be San Diego at Chicago, with Bob Costas and Tony Kubek reporting. . . . Add Costas: During spring training, Costas mentioned to Minnesota's Kirby Puckett that his wife, Randi, was expecting their first child in May. Puckett suggested they name the child Kirby. "The name works for either a boy or girl," Puckett said. Said Costas: "Look, if you're hitting .350 when the baby is born, we'll name it Kirby." It seemed like a safe promise at the time. However, as Costas said on the air during a regional baseball telecast last Saturday: "Unless the baby is extremely late or Puckett goes into a terrible slump, we've got Kirby Costas." Puckett, hitting .397 on May 1, is currently hitting .374.
CBS Fine on Lakers but Throws It Away in Double Overtime
TV-Radio / Larry Stewart
Jim Spence, former senior vice president of ABC sports, has been hired as president of ICM sports, a newly created division of International Creative Management, Inc., by Marvin Josephson, chairman of ICM's parent Josephson International, Inc., of New York. Mike Pithey, former senior production manager for the Olympic Games for ABC, has been hired as Spence's vice president. In his new position, Spence will have dealings with all three networks. Spence resigned from ABC when he was passed over and Dennis Swanson was named president of ABC sports. "I still have a good relationship with ABC," Spence said. "And I have seen Dennis Swanson socially several times in the past few weeks." . . . NBC has hired Mary Lou Retton as a commentator for its coverage of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships June 16-22 at Indianapolis. If she does well, she will be considered for a position on NBC's announcing team for the 1988 Summer Olympics. . . . Retired Raider Lyle Alzado was in New York this week to audition for a position as football commentator with NBC. The audition reportedly went well.
ABC will televise the Dodger game at Montreal Sunday to much of the nation, so it will now start at noon, PDT, instead of 10:30 a.m. In Los Angeles, the ABC game will be the New York Yankees at Texas, and Channel 11 will televise the Dodgers. . . . NBC is televising two fights at Corpus Christi, Tex., on Sunday. The fights will be live everywhere but in Los Angeles and San Diego. L.A.'s Channel 4 will show them on a one-hour tape-delay, begining at 1 p.m., while San Diego's Channel 39 will show only the second fight, and, because of a Padre telecast, not until 2:30 p.m. Originally, NBC had Meldrick Taylor and Harold Brazier in a lightweight 10-rounder on a separate boxing special, followed by Frankie Warren and Gene Hatcher in a 12-round junior welterweight bout that was to be the featured event on "SportsWorld." But after Hatcher dropped out and Ronnie Shields of Port Arthur, Tex., was brought in as a replacement, the order of the fights was changed. . . . Add fights: Commentator Ferdie Pacheco, putting himself on the spot, will tell how he is scoring the fight after each round.
ABC will have delayed coverage of the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions tennis tournament at Forest Hills, N.Y., Saturday at 3 p.m., while Sunday's final will be live at 10 a.m. The Financial News Network's SCORE segment, continuing to offer more prestigious events, will televise the doubles semifinals Saturday and the doubles final Sunday, live both days at 3 p.m. . . . "Entertainment Tonight," carried by Channel 4 weeknights at 7, will focus on sports next week, with Ahmad Rashad sitting in as host. The first segment Monday will focus on the U.S. Olympic hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union in 1980. Other segments include Franco Harris' immaculate reception against the Raiders in a 1972 NFL playoff game, Marty Liquori vs. Jim Ryun in the dream mile at the 1971 Penn Relays, and an interview with Hank Aaron. . . . Add Aaron: He will join Nick Charles and Jim Huber on CNN's "Sports Sunday" program Sunday at 4 p.m. Next Sunday, the guest will be Mickey Mantle. The following Sunday, it will be Willie Mays.
